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Miszellen
Anthropos 85.1990
When Giants Walked the Earth. The Life and
Times of Wilhelm Schmidt, SVD (Ernest Brandewie).
— As an ethnologist, Wilhelm Schmidt, SVD, is asso
ciated with culture circles. But this narrow understands
ing can lead us to overlook many of the most important
features of his life. He was a great organizer, for exam
ple, and a dedicated proponent of political involvement,
a friend and confidant of important and influential people
who sought out his advice. In many respects Schmidt
was a man bound by his times; in other regards he was
ahead of his times and much of what he said and started
are as fresh and relevant as today. Far from being a
narrow person, he thought and worked on a monumental
scale.
Ernest Brandewie emphasizes the diversity of
Schmidt’s work in this biography. He also places
Schmidt in his times, beginning with industrializing
Germany where he was bom, moving then to turn-of-
the-century Vienna, the first and second world wars, the
inter-war years, and the time after the second world war.
Only by doing this can one begin to understand Schmidt
and the many contributions he made throughout his
long life. - ([Studia Instituti Anthropos, 44] Fribourg:
The University Press Fribourg Switzerland, 1990. ISBN
3-7278-0712-1)
Expérience sociale de la mort. Etude des rites
funéraires des Bassar du Nord-Togo (Jacek Jan Paw-
lik). - Partant de la recherche sur le terrain parmi les
Bassar du Nord-Togo, l’auteur présente les rites funérai
res comme une réponse collective au phénomène de la
mort. Cette réponse, formulée dans les expressions cul
turelles: rites, danses, chants, mythes, crée une expérien
ce totale qui permet au peuple d’affronter la mort et
de réduire symboliquement sa portée. Sans renoncer
à l’analyse des symboles et des structures de pensée,
l’ouvrage adopte une vision globale en empruntant la
conception de l’expérience (Erlebnis) élaborée par W.
Dilthey. En se laissant étudier dans ses expressions,
l’expérience détermine dans l’intellect la façon de con
cevoir la vie, dans le domaine de la volonté, l’idéal
de vie et, au niveau affectif, la manière d’apaiser les
angoisses et de rétablir l’équilibre social.
Ce livre nous introduit dans le vécu collective des
Bassar. La première partie se réfère essentiellement à
la signification. Comment la mort est-elle présente dans
la pensée des Bassar et avec quel bagage conceptuel
réagissent-ils à son rencontre? La deuxième partie du
livre analyse l’ensemble des rites funéraires qui, grâce
à leur symbolique, soulignent la valeur ultime de la vie.
La troisième partie de l’ouvrage approche les festivités
funéraires du point de vue esthétique. Acteurs et spec
tateurs confondus, le spectacle se joue sans recours à la
scène ni au décor. C’est le temps fort de la vie où se
produit une expérience totale qui permet de canaliser
les émotions, de rétablir l’ordre social et d’affronter
l’avenir. - ([Studia Instituti Anthropos, 43] Fribourg:
Editions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse, 1990. ISBN
3-7278-0688-5. Prix: sfr 63.-)
European Review of Native American Studies. -
Europe has always held an important place in the study
of North American Indian peoples and their cultures.
But much of the past research in the field has been
insufficiently recognized because of the fragmentation of
the scholarship by boundaries of language and academic
discipline. Communication within Europe and across
disciplines often proved to be more difficult than across
the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1980 the American Indian
Workshop, an outgrowth of the European Association
for American Studies, has promoted the cause of inter
disciplinary and international exchange of information in
the field of Native American Studies by holding annual
meetings and by the publication of an informal American
Indian Workshop Newsletter.
In 1987 the Newsletter became part of a new jour
nal, the European Review of Native American Studies,
devoted to the publication of scholarly articles from
the fields of anthropology, art history, contemporary
affairs, history, languages and literatures, music, and
history of religions. Contributions emphasize, but are not
limited to European resources, perspectives, and authors.
The newsletter section reports on meetings, exhibitions,
and popular culture phenomena, and carries book re
views and book notes. An annotated bibliography of
publications in Native American Studies by European
authors or publishers supplies an ongoing account of the
state of the art. Of the two issues published per year,
one is guest edited by a distinguished scholar whose
expertise and perspective helps to diversify the journal’s
contents. Past guest editors have included Mick Gidley
of Exeter University, William Powers of Rutgers, and
Valery Tishkov of the Institute of Ethnography of the
Academy of Sciences of the USSR; up-coming guest
editors are Fedora Giordano (University of Rome) and
Armin Geertz (Aarhus University).
The European Review of Native American Studies
was initially published in Budapest, partly in order to
make the publication more easily available in eastern
Europe. With the recent opening of the borders, this
consideration is no longer of primary concern, whereas
better printing and more efficient service can be offered
by moving the production to Vienna within easy reach of
the editor’s office. Subscription is US$ 20.00 or ATS 240
per year (special rates are available upon request for
subscribers in eastern Europe).
All questions regarding subscriptions and contri
butions to the journal as well as the annual meetings of
the American Indian Workshop should be addressed to
Christian F. Feest, Editor, European Review of Native
American Studies, Museum für Völkerkunde, A-1014
Wien, Austria. Christian F. Feest